Recipe Charred tomato, fried onion and chickpea couscous

Morning Glory

Morning Glory

Obsessive cook
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A tangle of sticky sweet onion, tangy charred tomato and earthy chickpeas on a bed of fragrant saffron couscous.

Its a simple recipe which happens to be vegan. Only five basic ingredients needed (plus optional harissa and/or yoghurt to serve). The only tricky part is getting the main ingredients together on the plate, whilst still hot. The best way is to avoid this. Cook each ingredient at your leisure then assemble them on a shallow oven-proof platter. You can prepare up to two days in advance and simply heat the finished dish for 10 to 15 minutes in the oven.

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Ingredients (serves 2)
3 large banana shallots thinly sliced lengthwise (or use a really large onion)
1 tbsp vegetable oil
100g couscous
215ml vegetable stock
A generous pinch of saffron
200g baby tomatoes (various colours if possible) halved
¾ tin chickpeas, drained
To serve (optional): harissa and/or yoghurt

Method
  1. Cook the shallots slowly in the oil until caramelised. This may take up to 15 minutes.
  2. Place couscous in a bowl. Add the saffron to the hot vegetable stock (reserve 1 tbsp stock to mix with the harissa, if serving).
  3. Pour stock over couscous, cover the bowl and leave until the stick is absorbed
  4. Place the tomatoes cut side down on a baking sheet and cook for 10 minutes under a medium grill (broiler) or until softened. Turn them right side up and use a culinary blow torch to char the surfaces.
  5. Using an oven-proof plate, assemble a layer of couscous, followed by the chickpeas and then arrange the onions and tomatoes on top. At this stage you can cover the dish and keep in the fridge for up to two days.
  6. Heat the oven to 175 C and cook, uncovered for 15 minutes.
  7. Alternatively you can arrange the ingredients on microwave safe plates and heat for 4 to 5 minutes on high.
  8. Serve with harissa and/or yoghurt if desired

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Last edited:
Morning Glory said:
A tangle of sticky sweet onion, tangy charred tomato and earthy chickpeas on a bed of fragrant saffron couscous.

Its a simple recipe which happens to be vegan. Only five basic ingredients needed (plus optional harissa and/or yoghurt to serve). The only tricky part is getting the main ingredients together on the plate, whilst still hot. The best way is to avoid this. Cook each ingredient at your leisure then assemble them on a shallow oven-proof platter. You can prepare up to two days in advance and simply heat the finished dish for 10 to 15 minutes in the oven.

View attachment 116654

Ingredients (serves 2)
3 large banana shallots thinly sliced lengthwise (or use a really large onion)
1 tbsp vegetable oil
100g couscous
115ml vegetable stock
A generous pinch of saffron
200g baby tomatoes (various colours if possible) halved
¾ tin chickpeas, drained
To serve (optional): harissa and/or yoghurt

Method
  1. Cook the shallots slowly in the oil until caramelised. This may take up to 15 minutes.
  2. Place couscous in a bowl. Add the saffron to the hot vegetable stock (reserve 1 tbsp stock to mix with the harissa, if serving).
  3. Pour stock over couscous, cover the bowl and leave until the stick is absorbed
  4. Place the tomatoes cut side down on a baking sheet and cook for 10 minutes under a medium grill (broiler) or until softened. Turn them right side up and use a culinary blow torch to char the surfaces.
  5. Using an oven-proof plate, assemble a layer of couscous, followed by the chickpeas and then arrange the onions and tomatoes on top. At this stage you can cover the dish and keep in the fridge for up to two days.
  6. Heat the oven to 175 C and cook, uncovered for 15 minutes.
  7. Alternatively you can arrange the ingredients on microwave safe plates and heat for 4 to 5 minutes on high.
  8. Serve with harissa and/or yoghurt if desired

View attachment 116655
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Bookmarked!
 
Morning Glory said:
I'm honoured. I don't think you ever bookmarked one of my recipes before. Its low fat and low calorie so might suit Mrs TR's diet.
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I think you’re right. That’s not due to any dislike, quite the opposite - it’s just that your recipes are either beyond my skill or contain ingredients I don’t have and will likely never have.
 
Morning Glory said:
I am thinking maybe you are put off some ingredients because you think they will get used once and then go off before you use them again...
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That’s part of it, certainly (and I can look at the za’tar, Chinese five-spice, cardamom pods, diastatic malt powder, semolina, wheat germ, and several other things I have and have used once for confirmation).

It’s easy to say, “Well, go out and find some other interesting things to cook with those!” but I think that another part of the problem is that I just don’t cook nearly as much as others do, so when I’m making… 🤔…four meals a week now, tops, and I want some of those to be some of our favorites, it can take a long, long time to work around to finding something to use an unfamiliar ingredient in, at least for me, anyway. I’m not always looking for something new and exciting - that would actually exhaust me, mentally, I think.
 
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